Women’s lacrosse team falls to Syracuse

In a pregame interview, junior midfielder Kara Cannizzaro said the No. 5 seeded North Carolina women’s lacrosse team expected to play in an evenly matched game against No. 4 seeded Syracuse. They knew it would come down to a couple of goals.

As time ran down, Cannizzaro’s prediction rang true.

Syracuse senior Michelle Tumolo sent the ball past senior goalie Lauren Maksym with five seconds remaining to snatch the victory out of UNC’s outstretched hand.

With the loss, UNC won’t advance to the Final Four for the first time in four years.

“There were a lot of woulda-coulda-shoulda moments that might have changed the outcome,” coach Jenny Levy said. “Today’s game easily could have been a national semifinal or final game. The quality of play was very high on both sides.”

After building on momentum in the second half, UNC used an 8-3 scoring run to gain a 15-12 lead with under nine minutes left to play. In the remaining time, Syracuse used draw controls and frantic offense to regain the momentum.

In the final two and a half minutes, the Orange scored three goals, including two from Tumolo. A finalist for the Tewaaraton Award, the nation’s top lacrosse honor, Tumolo had four goals on the night including the last-second game winner.

“I thought both teams played with a lot of heart and a lot of hustle,” Cannizzaro said. “It seemed like some of the bounces went right into their sticks late in the game.”

The second half surge of scoring by the Orange was not the first time UNC was faced with a deluge of Syracuse goals. The Orange began the game on a 4-0 run all in the first five minutes.

But Levy put a stop to the Syracuse scoring free-for-all by quickly calling a timeout. After regrouping, UNC outscored Syracuse 7-3 in the remainder of the half.

In the second half momentum swung like a pendulum, with each team taking on opportunities for a stretch of time before it swung back to the opponent.

Senior Laura Zimmerman and Cannizzaro both capitalized on the momentum with career days. Playing in front of her hometown, Zimmerman scored a career-high six goals and matched her career high of seven points. Cannizzaro’s five goals also tied her career high.

“It was nice to come home but it would’ve been nicer to win,” Zimmerman said. “In the second half, we came out a little slow. I thought we gained some momentum through the ground balls and draw controls. We were landing out shots pretty well during our run in the second half.”

While Zimmerman and Cannizzaro frequently found the back of the net, the Orange shut down leading scorer Abbey Friend and senior midfielder Becky Lynch. Lynch is also one of the five finalists for the Tewaaraton Award, but didn’t see much of the ball as a result of Syracuse’s tight defense.

“We could have taken care of business a little better early in the game instead of falling behind like we did,” Cannizzaro said. “You can’t let it come down to the last two minutes like we did.”

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